Sleepless
by BellesAndRoses
Summary: This is more or less a sequel to Tangled.. the kind of sequel that doesn't so much involve the parents as the children.  If that bothers you, please don't read this story.. I'm trying to make it good, I promise!
1. Background

**A/N: Yeah, I know I've done a version of Sleeping Beauty before, but after watching Tangled, I thought it'd be really interesting if.. I don't know, if Eugene (lol. Eugene.) and Rapunzel had a daughter who became Sleeping Beauty. It just popped into my head when the movie was over, and it's been in my mind for weeks.. I had to write it! It wouldn't go away! Anyway.. enjoy!**

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POV: Narrator

Everyone agreed that the newborn princess Helen was beautiful. Her mother and father invited every person in the kingdom to the baby's birthday festival, to share in the celebration of her birth. Every person except, it need not be said, Mother Gothel.

The party began with citizens bestowing gifts upon the tiny child. Her bright green eyes, so like her mother Queen Rapunzel's, were wide and staring, hungry to see all they could as quickly as possible. The child's eyes didn't remain on one person or thing for longer than a moment, to allow time to take all the world's wonders in. Rapunzel kissed her baby's forehead tenderly, glad her daughter shared her sense of wonder and awe. Eugene stroked the tiny princess' cheek, smiling widely as the girl cooed and took hold of his finger.

A couple of fairies came by to offer the child gifts of beauty, wit, and musical talent. Rapunzel and Eugene were honored, although they knew the baby would have inherited beauty and musical talent from her mother and wit from her father. Not that they would make the mistake of insulting the fairies by telling them that.

Before long, almost every citizen had given the baby some gift or another, each gift different and every gift appreciated by the child's parents. In a flash of sickeningly green light, however, the mood of the party changed from peace and celebration to fear and distrust.

Mother Gothel had appeared.

"But how? You.. I saw you! You fell from the tower and.. and you disappeared!" cried Rapunzel, reaching out to grab her baby and hold her close. Eugene said nothing. He merely growled at the witch and took his wife and child into his arms.

Mother Gothel laughed. "You thought I died, Rapunzel? Clearly your naiveté hasn't left you. Pity.. I never liked that part of you. And what is this? Back from the dead too, are we, Ryder? Well, isn't this nice? It's like a reunion!" She smiled menacingly, causing Rapunzel to gasp, terrified, and lean into her husband's embrace.

"Oh, look. A little bundle in your arms.. your baby, I presume? Adorable. Look, she has your eyes. Oh, and she has Mister Ryder over here's big mouth. What a shame. She was almost cute." Mother Gothel took a step toward the couple and their baby.

"Well, what kind of celebration would this be, if I didn't give a gift to the little.. bundle? Hmm.. doubtless, other people have given gold, and clothing, and.. whatever else. What shall I give the child?" Mother Gothel asked herself, tapping her wasted chin with a withered finger. "Ah! I know. I'll give her something no one else here could- a magic spell!" She clapped her hands in delight.

Rapunzel's grip on her baby tightened, trying to protect small Helen from the wrath of the witch. Eugene took a step toward the witch, trying to pull Rapunzel and Helen behind him. "You aren't going to touch Helen. Or Rapunzel. Get out." His voice was firm, and his eyes narrowed.

Mother Gothel simply laughed. "Really? Then how can I do this?" She held out a finger and pointed it at Eugene. A green wisp of magic blew right past him, whirled around Rapunzel and the baby, and went directly into the eyes of the child. Rapunzel screamed. Eugene whipped around to look at his family, and with a sigh of relief, saw that they were unharmed. The baby reached up for him and he stroked her dark hair back, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead.

Turning back around to face the now cackling Mother Gothel, Eugene's face contorted into an angry scowl. "What did you do to my daughter?" he demanded, his voice a growl.

Mother Gothel finally stopped her laughing and answered Eugene. "Oh, nothing.. nothing that will affect her now, anyway. Would you like to know the gritty details of the curse I put on her, or how to break it? It's your choice.. but I'll only tell you one."

Faced with a terrible decision, Eugene turned to his wife. She looked up at him with those large hazel green eyes of hers, her lip trembling. She shrugged quietly, knowing either choice would leave something they needed to know out. Was it better to know what the curse would do, or how to break it? One would tell them what would happen to their daughter, while they would have to guess how to stop it, and the other would tell them how to stop the curse before it took hold, leaving them to guess what would happen to their daughter if they didn't break it in time.

"I.. tell me.. tell me what the curse will do to her," Eugene finally said, turning back to the witch with pure misery in his eyes. Rapunzel gasped quietly- that had not been what she wanted her husband to say.

"Wait! No, tell me how to break it! I wasn't thinking correctly.." Eugene tried to tell the witch, having heard his wife gasp and knowing what she was thinking. How could he have been so stupid?

Mother Gothel cackled once more. "Too late, dearie! Looks like I get to tell you what I did to your little girl! How delightful! The curse will take hold when the little princess turns fifteen years old. She will have until she turns sixteen to prick her finger and draw blood, you got that? She must draw blood. It's symbolic. You'll understand later. After she pricks her finger, she will fall into a deep sleep, and she won't wake up until the curse breaks. Remember, I won't tell you how.

"Anyway, if the curse does not take effect while she is fifteen years old, it will never take effect. However, in that case, disaster will follow wherever she goes. A dead curse is not a broken curse. That's not how it works. Any questions?" Mother Gothel asked, relishing the look of pure horror on Eugene's face.

"I.. what if the curse isn't broken.. by sunset on her sixteenth birthday?" he asked, his voice dry and hoarse.

Mother Gothel smiled, a viper going in for the kill. "She'll die. Simple as that. You're lucky she'll only fall asleep when the curse takes effect. Bye now!" The witch disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

Ashen, Eugene turned to face his sobbing wife and cooing daughter. He took his family into his arms and cried quietly, terrified of what would become of his daughter.. and his country.


	2. Helen

**A/N: The point of view is going to change by chapter, so the story-telling is different.. and because I like being able to show you the mind of more than one individual :)**

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POV: Helen

Fifteen years later, Helen.. no.. I grew into a young woman. Short, petite, and, if I do say so myself, adorable, I'm just like my mom. In looks, that is. People are always telling me how much I look like her, and it's true. I have the same wide, staring, green eyes, the same choppy looking brown hair.. that was actually my choice. The hair. I think it suits me, and people around town agree.

Anyway, I may look like my mom, but my mind is all my dad's. I'm witty, adventurous, and headstrong. I get the feeling that bothers some people, but hey, I'm the princess. Until I prick my finger, they're stuck with me. And I'm not even sure that's going to happen anymore. I'm almost sixteen. In fact, I turn sixteen tomorrow. So, since the curse hadn't taken hold for this long, who's to say it won't take hold at all?

Not that that's a great plan.. being cautious and not letting the curse take effect, I mean. Because then I'll have to be sent out of the country, so I don't accidentally burn down the kingdom or something. I mean, come on, the witch said I would carry disaster in my wake. I couldn't do that to my parents.. to my country.

Anyway, here's where my part of the story starts.

Right, I woke up this morning and everything was totally normal. The sunlight shone through my window, I got cleaned up and changed into a simple blue dress, slid down the banister into the dining room, ate breakfast, played with Pascal a little, and my friend Jeremy came over. Whoop-dee-do. The same thing has happened almost every day for the past couple of years, excepting the time Jeremy got pneumonia, when he had to stay in bed for a couple of days. But, moving back to the present.

I put a cape on, hood down, and creep over to where Jeremy is sitting, waiting for me to finish my breakfast.

"Jeremy… the most terrible thing has happened… Helen pricked her finger!" I tease him, hugging him from behind and acting like I'm a sobbing old maid. Knowing it's me, he grabs me around the middle and picks me right up, joining in the fake sobs.

"Oh, my life is over! And so close to her birthday, too! Boo hoo, she'll be dead and gone forever if we don't break the spell! Oh, if only I had told her how I felt about her!" he cried, still swinging me around.

I giggled as he let me down and yanked the cape off of me. Wanting to take him by surprise, I threw my arms around his neck and pretty much jumped on him. Of course, nothing I do ever surprises him anymore, so he just caught me and held me for a moment and let me down. We've always been kind of physical with each other.. not in THAT way, obviously, but.. you know, rough-housing. Or in this case, jumping and being picked up. Hey, it's what we do.

"So. You want to tell me how you feel? Go right ahead, I'm listening!" I say to him, exaggeratedly cupping my hand to my ear and bending over.

He laughs and plays along, putting his mouth near my ear. "I think you are the most annoying little brat I have ever met, and since you're my best friend, I know I'm allowed to say that without getting the evil eye from your dad, who is standing in the doorway right now," he whispers, laughing as I swat at his face.

I turn to the doorway and wave my fingers at my dad, who is standing with his arms crossed and smiling at me. I walk over and give him a hug. "Good morning, Daddy! We're just playing around," I tell him, referring to Jeremy and I.

"I know, but could you keep it down? Your mother is still sleeping," he tells us, waving at Jeremy who in turn bows exaggeratedly, earning a laugh from my dad.

"Yes, Daddy. We'll be out in the garden, okay? I want to show him the cherry blossoms!" I say, getting excited. Dad smiles and ruffles my hair, and I run off, grabbing Jeremy's hand before I pass him. "Come on!"

"Why are you showing me the cherry blossoms? I saw them yesterday! And the day before that, and the day they bloomed.." Jeremy says, already out of breath from running to keep up with me. His lungs have never been completely right since he had pneumonia. I stop running, feeling kind of sheepish for forgetting.

"I'm showing you the cherry blossoms so we can be alone out here. I have to tell you something. Well.. show you something. Um.. kind of," I mumble, earning myself a look of confusion from Jeremy. He's known me almost my whole life, but he still gets confused around me a lot. Even more so now that he's seventeen.. things are supposed to make sense when you're older, but I often don't.

"Okay. You remember that spell I'm under? What's supposed to happen if I don't prick my finger by tomorrow? Disaster in my wake, and whatnot?" I try to make this sound like it's not a big deal. Have I said yet that I'm really bad at that? Well, I am.

Jeremy nods, a somber expression clouding his face. He's being serious for once.. and it's kind of scaring me. I'm so used to seeing his bright blue eyes laughing away, his blonde, wavy hair bouncing as he runs to catch up to me while we play one of our games.. um, anyway..

"Yeah.. why, what's going on?" he asks simply, taking my hand. My heart bounces, just a little. There's something I should probably tell you before the story goes any further- I'm kind of in love with Jeremy. Not so much the sighing every couple of seconds, googly-eyed, butterflies in the stomach kind of love.. well, the butterflies make an appearance every now and then, but it's not always like that. He's been my best friend for a long time. He knows things about me even my parents don't know. Like, for example, I'm really scared of my curse.. what it'll do to everyone around me if it doesn't take effect.. that kind of thing.

"Well.. look at the cherry blossoms," I say to Jeremy sadly, pointing with the hand he's not holding. He turns around to look and my head droops so now I'm looking at my bare feet.

The cherry blossoms are all dead. All of them. Not one cherry blossom is still on the tree, when they were all blooming and beautiful yesterday. My curse is still working, whether or not anyone in the kingdom likes to mention it.

"So the cherry blossoms are gone. Ellie.. that doesn't mean your curse did it. I thought we agreed to be positive about this." Jeremy lets go of my hand and puts one of his on my shoulder and uses the other to tilt my chin upward. "Promise me you won't worry."

I can't do that. Really, I can't. Not even his heartbreakingly beautiful eyes can make me promise not to worry about this. I open my mouth to tell him that, but I can't.. so I don't say anything.


	3. Jeremy

**A/N: Man, I'm surprising myself with how quickly I'm cranking this story out. I love it, though. Um.. if you do too, could you please be a dear and review? :)**

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POV: Jeremy

Helen's silence is kind of scaring me. I can't let her be so worried.. she never worries about anything, except maybe if something happened to her parents, or to me. I love that about her.. she has a big heart, but doesn't really use it on herself often enough. I remember once when we were kids, we decided to try climbing these rocks.. I forget where, but it was some beach, I think. Anyway.. we both slipped and fell. I got out of it with a skinned knee, but her whole left arm was scraped up really badly.

I remember her freaking out about the blood coming from my knee, as if she hadn't even noticed her arm was bleeding just as much, if not more. We were, I think, seven and eight and a half, then. Back when it was cute to count half birthdays.

She looks down and takes my hand away from her chin. "I can't.. promise you that, Jeremy. What if something happens?" she asks, holding my hand with both of hers.

I smile gently and use my free hand to brush her hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear. "Then I'll be right there with you, protecting you. If we have to, we'll move to the countryside where nothing ever happens. You'll be safe, and I won't have to leave you by yourself."

Helen looks into my eyes for a moment, and smiles sadly. "I meant, what if something happens to you?" She's smiling, but I can tell she's scared.

"Nothing will happen to me. Know why? I won't let it. I am strong like bull, yes?" I joke, mimicking a foreign accent to make her laugh. It doesn't work. All I get is a weak chuckle.. and a tear. Oh, crap.

"Don't cry.. Ellie, come on.." I pull her to me, stroking her hair gently as she breaks down into sobs. The sky above us turns an ominous shade of gray, and before I can suggest going inside, it's pouring out. Well, that's unlucky.

"I can't h-help it.. I d-don't want to l-lose you!" Helen sobs. I hug her tighter in an effort to both comfort her and protect her from the rain. I hate to admit it to other people, but.. oh man, I love this girl. I love her so much it hurts.

"Come on, Ellie. Let's go inside, okay? We can worry about your curse some more inside.. and who knows, you might even feel better when you're not drenched." I guide her inside and hear her chuckle a little bit. That's a relief. I can't take her crying.. I can handle almost anything from Helen- punches, kicks, yelling, name-calling, hugging, tricking, dancing, even singing.. just not crying.

A bunch of servants come running over as we make our way back inside. They tear Helen away from me and pull us into separate quarters to get dried off and change into some dry clothes. I look out the window of the room the king and queen gave me for when I stay over, and see that even though it's only about noon, the sky is dark as night. I'm dressed in a loose-fitting shirt and a green vest, some simple pants, and my old leather boots. My new ones, I reserve for parties and when it's necessary to dress up for dinnertime. Being a prince, you never know when they want you in some kind of lavish garment made of a fabric you can't pronounce. Oh, did I forget to tell you that?

Right.. I'm a prince. My country is kind of far away, but my castle isn't. See, the palace I live in is on the very end of my country. Something about the way the light hits the country, so there isn't a shadow on the palace.. I never bothered to remember that. I just remembered that I could run over to Helen's place from mine in twenty minutes when I was little. Now, I've cut down that time to about.. five to ten minutes, since I now have my own horse.

Anyway, now I'm dressed, so I'm allowed to go up to Helen's room and wait outside for her. On my way there, I pass her dad. He looks at he with an eyebrow raised- not a great sign. It means he wants to talk to me.

"Hello, sir.. I was just about to go and wait for Helen. Um.. is that okay?" Something about that look really unnerves me. I mean, it's not like I'm scared of him or anything. I've known him way too long to be afraid. He just makes me kind of nervous. Maybe it's because he doesn't know I'm in love with his daughter. Like.. really in love. Like… heart-crushing, bone-chilling, soul-meltingly in love. She's my sun, my moon, my stars.. but that's downplaying the way she makes me feel. Yeah.. that's probably why King Eugene makes me nervous.

"No. In fact, get out of here and never come back. Of course it's okay! You've been doing the same thing for what, fifteen years now? Relax, Jeremy. I'm not going to throw you in the dungeon for being friends with my daughter. Now, if you proposed marriage to her without asking me first.. then, we might have a problem." He winks knowingly at me and I feel my knees shaking a little.

"Y.. you got it all wrong.. w-we're friends.." I choke out, thrown for a loop. He has never, I mean NEVER mentioned Helen and I as a possible match.

He laughs, turning my jitters into annoyance. He doesn't have to think it's so funny.. "You should see your face! You've got it bad, kid. Just promise to take care of her, and I won't run you out of this country with all my old, uh.. friends." He claps me on the back and my body feels like it's made of.. something soft and gooey.

"Th.. thanks. I think." I walk away, clueless as to how I'm still standing up after that. I make it up the stairs to Helen's room just as she bursts out of it. "Aah! Slow down, Ellie, you might break something!" I joke, grabbing her waist and hugging her tight before my mind kicks in. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind.

"The only thing here that's breakable is you! And if you don't let go of me, I just might!" she teases, giving me shivers with her thin fingers up and down my back. She knows I hate that, so I quickly let her go and mock-shiver.

"You evil witch! I shall grab your finger and poke it repeatedly with a needle!" I say before remembering how worried she'd gotten about that curse earlier. I hate myself the second I see her face drop from a grin to a grimace. "Ah.. sorry. That was pushing it."

She smiles and takes my hand. "It's fine. There's no point in pretending the curse doesn't exist. Come on, it's time for lunch." With that, she pulls me down the stairs with her and leads me to the dining room where, sure enough, lunch is on the table. For the moment, the curse takes over my mind and we eat in silence.


	4. Painting Jeremy

**A/N: I don't have much to say, but please enjoy the story and review if you can! :)

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POV: Helen

We finish eating and thank the servants, then I grab Jeremy's hand and pull him into the living room. I feel like painting. "Jeremy, can I paint you?" I ask, knowing he's always willing to sit for a portrait. He always has been, since we were little and all I could paint were stick figures. I must have hundreds of portraits of Jeremy that I've painted over the years.. each one improving in quality just a little.

"Again? You painted one of me not.. two weeks ago. Less than that, even," Jeremy responds.

"I know, but you weren't wearing that vest last time! It makes your eyes look turquoise! Please?" I beg, clasping my hands together and giving him my best puppy dog look. He squirms a little, then sighs.

"Fine. Fine! But let me check my reflection first, okay? Last time, my hair was all ruffled and you painted it that way, remember? I looked like a troll!" he complains, making a face. I giggle.

"Okay, but hurry up!" I run off to my room to grab my paints, paintbrush, easel.. the works. A servant insists on helping me, and I let her carry half the supplies. We make our way back downstairs and I ask the servant- I think her name is Marie- to put the easel down in the drawing room. I shared a chuckle with her at the irony of painting a portrait in the drawing room, and she leaves with a wave. Yeah, she's definitely Marie.

Jeremy meets me in the drawing room a minute later. "Ready?" I ask him. His hair looks glorious- golden, shining.. I catch myself staring and look away, pretending to set my canvas on the easel, which it already is.

"Yeah. Let's get this over with," he teases. I playfully flick his nose and set him down on the other side of the easel.

I quickly sketch out Jeremy's face- I've done it so many times, I've almost got it totally memorized in my mind's eye. The straight nose, the pouting lips, the high cheekbones, the wide, almond-shaped eyes, the gently waved hair. Jeremy has his hair pushed back, though.. I'm not sure I like it. I walk over to him and put some of his hair on the side of his face, like my dad used to do with his hair. He looks a lot better, so I grin at him and walk back to my easel, beginning to put paint on my canvas. I vaguely notice his eyes following me.. my heart speeds up, but I try to calm it so my hands don't start shaking.

By the time I'm finished, Jeremy is squirming and shifting in his seat. I chuckle. "Relax now, Jerry, I'm done," I tell him with a smirk. In response, he exaggeratedly yawns and stretches. I giggle and take his arm, leading him to the other side of the easel to see my new masterpiece.

"Wow. It's.. it's perfect. I love this one. Ellie, can I keep it?" he asks, genuinely impressed. I beam at him, and before I can stop myself, I'm kissing his cheek and wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Of course you can." I feel a tear sliding down my cheek, and all of a sudden, I'm crying.

Jeremy pulls back from our hug and sees me crying. His eyebrows knit together in confusion, and he cups my face in his big, soft hands. "What's the matter? Are you okay, Ellie?" he asks gently, wiping my tear away with his thumb.

"F.. fine." I sniffle. "I'm just.. really going to miss this."

"When? Are you going somewhere? Because I never will," Jeremy says, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. Deep down, I know he knows what I mean. I mean, when my curse takes effect, I'm really going to miss him.. I can't deny it, it's either going to happen or I'll turn into a walking jinx.

"Come on. Your parents are going to want to talk to you about your party tomorrow. Curse or no, you're still turning sixteen. It's an important birthday. Please.. think about the party, and not the curse. Give me a little smile.. please?" Jeremy asks softly, caressing my cheek.

The corners of my mouth twitch upwards of their own accord, and I help them along into a real smile. "Okay. But only for you." The smile he gives me.. I can't even explain what it does to me. Before I know it, I'm with my parents and Jeremy, talking about the decorations for tomorrow.

My mom looks at me expectantly. Did she just ask me something? "Uh.. sorry, I spaced out. What?" I ask, giving her an innocent look.

She chuckles. "What colors do you want for your party? You have a choice of.. well, every color, I guess. But here's the thing.. you can only pick two." Her eyes, identical to mine, are wide with excitement. Clearly, she's been waiting to talk to me about this party for a long time.

"Hmm.. purple and.. green? No, no.. wait.. purple and.. light blue. Um.. no, wait.. pink. Pink and purple. Uh.. light pink.. and.. dark purple. You know what I mean." I rake my fingers through my hair and sigh. I sound like a babbling idiot. My mom pats my shoulder sympathetically and smiles softly. My dad is amused, but doesn't say anything. I won't even look at Jeremy.

"You know what, honey? I'll take care of your birthday decorations, okay? I know what you like, and you can be surprised. How's that sound?" Mom suggests. I smile gratefully and nod. She smiles back and fixes my hair.

"Who's hungry?" Dad chimes in. I laugh. He knows just what to say sometimes. We all get up and go down to the dining room- luckily, we don't have to change for dinner today, since it's just us. Mom and I aren't even wearing shoes.

Dad pulls out Mom's chair for her and they exchange a look of pure adoration when they think Jeremy and I aren't looking. I instinctively look up at Jeremy, who pulls out my chair in the same way and gives me the same look. I sigh quietly, just looking into his eyes. My dad clears his throat and, giggling, I sit down.

We eat slowly, all four of us just talking, laughing, being a family. For a while today, the curse leaves my mind and I can finally relax with my family and think about something else. Something else like, for example, what I'm going to wear to my party tomorrow.


	5. Helen Runs

**A/N: Getting closer to the end now :)

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POV: Jeremy

I have nightmares all night. I hear glass breaking, and I see blood. Helen's blood. The curse! Helen falls over, asleep. Just as I gather her into my arms, I see the sun go down. I'm screaming but I can't hear myself..

"Helen! No.. don't leave me.. Helen, please!"

I wake up drenched in sweat. I remember where I am, slowly, and make my way to the window. I spent the night at Helen's. Judging by the sun's position, it's noon already. Not sure why I was allowed to sleep in, I get ready for the day as I normally would and venture out into the kitchen to seek out some breakfast. Er.. lunch. Whatever.

The place is in total disarray. People are holding pink and purple decorations, there's broken glass on the floor, and in the middle of it all, Helen is crying. I run over and take her by the shoulders. "Ellie, what happened? Are you hurt? Let me see your hands!" I demand, grabbing them.

She looks up at me and down at her hands. Not a drop of blood is to be found. I heave a sigh of relief and hold her close. "Don't.. scare me like that. Tell me what happened." I'm barely aware that my body is trembling.

"I.. th.. the chandelier f-fell. No one is hurt.. b-but.. I was right there, and.. i-it scared me. I'm f-fine, Jeremy.. promise." Helen smiles weakly at me, and I cup her face in my hands, wiping her tears away as best I can without a handkerchief.

"Come on, let's get out of here, okay? I don't want you to get hurt on all that broken glass," I tell her, helping her to her feet and taking her outside into the garden. When we get out there, neither of us is prepared for what we see.

Every flower, and I do mean every single flower in the garden is dead. Not just the cherry blossoms. All of it. Helen gasps sharply before breaking into fresh sobs. I'm pulling her into my arms a second later, whispering to her that everything's going to be alright and that it wasn't her fault.

Am I scared? Yes. But not for me. I'm worried about what this curse is doing to Helen. As she cries harder than I've ever seen her cry before, her parents rush into the garden, after hearing what happened with the chandelier.

"Is she okay?" King Eugene asks me softly. I look up at him with fear in my eyes, and nod calmly. Yeah, physically, she's alright. But on the inside? No way. She's suffering inside, and there's nothing I can do to help her. Well.. nothing that doesn't involve making her prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep, restoring balance to the world, but more than likely taking her away from me forever because no one knows how to break the spell but the old witch who put it on Helen. Oh, if I ever get my hands on that witch..

And that's when it hits me. What if we went to see her? It couldn't hurt.. she might tell us how to break the curse. Well.. actually, that's a really bad idea. I don't know how long it would take to get there, and if it takes more than three quarters of a day.. yeah, that's not going to work. I have to think of something else.

POV: Helen

I can hear my parents walking back inside to see what they can do to salvage my party. What's the point, I wonder? I'm just going to ruin everything again by walking inside. I'm getting jinxier and jinxier, and even though no one is saying anything about it, I know they know it too. Even Jeremy knows.. otherwise he would have said something.

What is he going to think of me when this day is over and everything goes wrong whenever I'm around? I'll be like that for the rest of my life. I honestly don't know if it's worth it.. living like that. Putting him through that. I'd be better off just leaving them all and living by myself.

That's when it hits me. What if I ran away? Nobody can get hurt if nobody's around, right?

I manage to stop crying and look up at Jeremy. Oh, I'm going to miss him. My heart aches at the thought of being away from him for the rest of my life, but.. I can't let him try to protect me anymore. He could end up getting really hurt, or worse.

"Jerry.. I'm going to my room, okay? I can't mess anything up there. Just.. wait for me. Will you?" I ask, trying to sound like I'm really okay. He seems to buy it, because he nods and lets me go. Before I can change my mind, I'm running up to my room and closing the door behind me.

POV: Jeremy

I watch her go into the palace and run up to her room. Something was off just now.. I follow her and wait outside her bedroom, like I have been doing since I was a little kid. This time is different from all those other times, though.. I can hear her footsteps for a couple of seconds, and then.. nothing. Either she's standing very still, or she's not in there anymore.

I knock on the door. "Helen? Are you in there?" No answer. I knock again. "Helen, just answer me. Are you in there?" Nothing.

Damn.

POV: Helen

I pack a bag as quickly as I can and grab a blanket, tying it to make a rope. This is one of those rare times when I wish I had magic hair I could climb up and down on, like Mom used to. It would make this whole running away business so much quicker and easier. Anyway, once the rope is ready, I tie it off and climb out my open window.

I take one last, longing look at my home and start running. Jeremy's going to be on my tail in no time, and I have to make sure he doesn't find me. I'm a menace to society now.. and I will be for the rest of my life. There is no way I'm going to put him through that. I won't. I refuse.

I just wish I knew where I was going.


	6. The Curse

**A/N: Trouble for our hero and heroine.. what will happen?

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POV: Jeremy

I can't take it anymore- I burst into Helen's room, to find it devoid of human life. There's a rope hanging out the window. She ran. A faint growl escapes my lips and I take hold of the rope, climbing down and running after Helen. I don't exactly know how I know which direction she's running towards. I just.. know.

My lungs are burning, and I know I've about had enough. That's when I see her. She's sitting in a field maybe a mile or two away from the palace. She's trying to catch her breath. I stand behind a tree, watching her. The sky above us is beginning to turn gray again, and I know a storm isn't far off.

Clearing my throat and straightening myself out, I walk over to her. She yelps and jumps a foot, clearly startled. "Relax, Ellie. It's just me. What do you think you're doing out here? Your parents are going to go nuts when they realize we're gone."

She looks defiantly back at me. "They wouldn't go nearly as nuts if it was just me missing. Now they probably think you kidnapped me." She's obviously angry, but I can't help but feel anger boiling up inside me, too.

"What, so you'd rather have them think someone else kidnapped you? At least they know I'd never hurt you.. if you were kidnapped by say, I don't know, Mother Gothel, they'd think you were a goner. And they just might have considered her a suspect if I didn't follow you out here. What do you think that'd do to your parents? It would destroy them!" I shout back at her. Judging by the guilt that crosses her face, she knows I'm right.

"Yeah, well.. what do you expect me to do? This past whole year, the curse hasn't done anything to me.. I've been totally normal, until yesterday. What if I never prick my finger and draw blood? I'll be a walking jinx for the rest of my life! I couldn't do that to my parents, to my country.. to you." The last part, Helen mumbled. I heard it, though.. and it broke my heart. She was worried about me? Have I told you yet that I love this girl more than anything else in the world?

"Helen.. I couldn't.. I can't be without you. Walking jinx or not, Helen.. I.. I want to be with you. For the rest of my life. Helen, I love-" I'm cut off by a gang of thieves grabbing me and covering my mouth. Helen is grabbed in a similar way and we're dragged off. The last thing I see before I'm knocked out is the afternoon sun.

I don't know how long it's been when I wake up. My head is killing me and it's dark. I look around. There are no windows, which explains the darkness. I'm tied to a chair.. and I can hear Helen breathing behind me. She's tied to a chair, too, and our chairs are tied together. These thieves got really tie-happy, didn't they?

"Helen.. Helen, wake up," I whisper. Her head perks up. She heard me.

Unfortunately, so did the guard who was supposed to be watching us. He punches me in the stomach, and it feels like I'm about to throw up my lung. "No talking.. got it.." I rasp, struggling to get a full breath in.

"What do you want with us?" Helen asks, turning her head to look at the guard behind her. He responds by walking over to her and ripping off the necklace she's wearing. He must be a mute.. either that, or really stupid.

"We'll get a nice reward offa them two.. a prince and a princess on the same day, eh, boys? Looks like we'll be eatin' well for, eh.. the next ten or twenty years, maybe?" the guard chortled roughly. I was right. He does sound stupid.

"She's under a spell.. you wouldn't want her," I pipe up, trying to look for a way out. "Disaster follows her.. if you don't let her go now, this building could cave in.. everyone in here is in terrible danger!"

Her head turns so she's as close as she can get to looking at me. "What are you doing?" she whispers.

"Trust me," I whisper back.

"Shut UP!" the guard growls, punching me again, this time across the face. It feels like my eye exploded.

Helen turns her head as far as she can and kisses me on the cheek, nuzzling me with her nose as if that would help take the pain away. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I mean, I love her with my whole heart.. but that punch really.. really.. hurt.

"He's right, you know.. I bet when the sun goes down, this whole building will fall down with you in it. You'll be a thief pancake. I'm.. d-dangerous.." Helen's mouth clamps shut when one of the thieves that was lurking in the shadows walks up and inspects her face. I can only see him out of the corner of one eye, but what I can see is very ugly.

POV: Helen

The thief reeks of body odor and alcohol. "Oi.. you're that Princess Helen? You stupid dolts, this girl's tellin' the truth! That curse is powerful stuff.. leave 'er outside, but keep Prince Charmin' here. We can get quite a bit offa his parents, but nobody's gonna want that girl if her parents don't pay." I look at him in horror. This wasn't the plan. What about Jeremy?

POV: Jeremy

I watch, helpless, as the thieves drag Helen out. She's screaming for me to help her, but I can't even move. I drop my head in shame. I promised her father I would protect her.. I'm totally powerless.

As she's thrown out of the building we're in, I can hear the storm outside getting worse. In fact, it doesn't even sound like rain anymore. It's like rain, hail, strong winds and.. the earth feels like it's shaking. This isn't a normal storm. This is Helen's curse.

I only have a moment to think about this before the roof collapses on us. I feel a searing pain in my arm, and then nothing at all.

POV: Helen

I'm watching the storm pick up, but I can barely see through it. I turn around to try to figure out how I'm going to save Jeremy, and then.. the roof caves in. The building collapses under the storm. Jeremy's.. gone.

"No.. n-no.. Jeremy! JEREMY!" I scream, running toward the remains of the building. I dig through the rubble for a while before I find him. I drag him over to me and look him over. His arm is obviously broken and he's covered in blood. I hold him close to me, knowing it's too late.

There's a sharp piece of rubble next to me. I pick it up and look at it for a moment. "I did this. I'm going to fix it," I say to no one in particular. I take the piece of rubble and stab at my finger with it. I see the blood, and then I don't see anything.


	7. The End

**A/N: The final stretch! The curse has taken hold.. will Jeremy break it in time?

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POV: Jeremy

I wake up outside the building I was just in. It's still standing. I look up at the sky. It looks like the sun's going to set in a few minutes. It's pretty.

Wait. Sunset. And I'm still alive, which means.. I look around me, and there she is. Helen. I run over to her and gather her into my arms. Just like in my nightmare, she's sound asleep. I shake her. Nothing. I shake her harder, calling out her name. No response.

I look over my shoulder at the horizon. The sun is still well above it, but that means I have less than an hour to break Helen's curse before I lose her forever. The girl I've loved since I was a little kid.. my Ellie.. will be dead in less than an hour. If I wasn't so pressed for time, I would break down in tears at the very idea of losing her.

My arm is miraculously not broken, so I scoop Helen up and carry her home, running as fast as I can, bad lungs or not. I get her up to her room, somehow managing to get past all the servants still eagerly rushing to get Helen's party ready before sundown. I lay Helen down on her bed, gathering the blanket she used as a rope and throwing it away. It doesn't look like anyone knows she was ever gone, and that would just be something extra to explain.

I cover Helen up and caress her cheek. She's breathing softly.. but she won't for much longer. The run back here took a good fifteen minutes, since I was carrying her. Now I barely have any time at all.

I take her hand, not knowing what else to do, and hold it up to my cheek, willing her to open her eyes so I can finish telling her that I love her. But she doesn't, and all I can do now is pray. Pray that somehow the curse will miraculously break itself, or I'll suddenly have an epiphany and manage to break it myself.

"I promised your dad that I would protect you, no matter what. I promised.. when I was nine and you were almost eight.. do you remember? We ran off that time, too.. and you were so small, you almost got run over by a carriage, but I grabbed you out of the way.. remember? I didn't think anything of it. But I promised your dad I'd do it again, and again, if I had to.

"Here I am, trying to protect you again, Helen.. but I need your help. You need to let me protect you. I don't know how to break this curse, but I'm going to try. You just have to trust me. I will save you.. but I need your help. You need to want to be saved. Do you?" I ask, not really knowing what I'm saying. I gently pick up her head.

"Helen, do you want to be saved?" I ask, trying to get a response out of her. Her nose twitches. I get a little excited and I ask her again, a little bit louder this time. "Helen, do you want to be saved?" Her nose twitches again.

All of a sudden, I know what to do. I don't know why, I don't know how, but I know I have to kiss her. I gently lift her head closer to mine and close my lips over hers, pouring every ounce of love for her I hold in my heart into the kiss, miraculously knowing that that's exactly what I have to do.

I place Helen's head softly back onto the pillow and look behind me, out the window. Night has fallen. The sun went down. Was I too late?

I get up, rushing over to the window. The sun is long gone, from the looks of things. It must have gone down while I was talking to Helen. I mentally curse my inability to shut up and do what I have to do. I hate myself.. I couldn't stop talking long enough to save Helen's life. And now she's gone forever.

I drop to my knees and cry. It's all I _can_ do. The king and queen run in, probably having noticed that Helen went missing. They see me first and hurry over.

"What happened? Where is she?" King Eugene demands, grabbing me by the shirt. I don't have time to say anything before Queen Rapunzel finds Helen in her bed, sleeping. Or.. well.. dead.

But.. she's not dead. Because she's waking up. I look at her and manage to break free of King Eugene's grip, getting over to her as fast as I can using only my knees, since my legs gave out earlier. She's mumbling something..

"I love you," she says. She opens her eyes and looks right at me, a smile on her face. A second later, her arms are around me and I'm crashing down onto her bed with her. I never realized she was so strong.

"You're okay.." I whisper, barely able to contain myself. I try extra hard, though, since her parents are still in the room. "Oh, Helen.. I was so.. s-so worried.. you.. don't ever do that to me again.." I sob, holding her close to me. An idea appears in my head and I let her go in an instant, running over to King Eugene, whose eyes are wider than Queen Rapunzel's, for a change.

"King Eugene.. no.. Eugene. I request.. no.. demand permission to marry your daughter.. so I can protect her no matter what, for the rest of her life. I love her more than I have ever loved anything in my entire life.. more than I could ever love anyone else. Please.. let me at least ask her," I beg, not exactly sure why I'm being so forceful. I bet I look silly.

Queen Rapunzel stifles a laugh. Yep, I look ridiculous. King Eugene looks me over for a moment, then crosses his arms and gives me that same knowing smirk he gave me yesterday. "If you want to marry her that badly, you'll have to ask her yourself. It's up to her. Good luck, Romeo," the king joked, turning me around and pushing me so I'm face to face with Helen, who got out of bed while I was talking to her dad.

"Helen.." I say quietly, taking her hands in mine. "I never want to lose you again. What I was trying to tell you before.. is.. uh.." Oh, great. The "uh" made an appearance. I shake my head and drop down to one knee, still holding her hands.

"Helen, I'm in love with you.. would youdomethehonorofbeingmywife?" I mumble.

"You're, um.. you're mumbling. I can't hear you. You want to ask me that again?" Helen suggests, kneeling down so we're eye to eye.

Do I want to ask her again? Hell, I'll ask her a thousand times. "Helen. I'm in love with you-" I begin.

"Yes, I've got that part. I love you too. Now, the question?" she prompts, clearly impatient to give me her answer.

"Will you.. please.. marry me?" I finally ask.

She laughs and kisses me, holding me close, before responding "yes."

POV: Narrator

Helen and Jeremy were married not long after that, and they were almost inseparable ever since. They lived out their lives without further interference from the witch Mother Gothel, and they all lived happily ever after.

**The End.**

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**A/N: I don't know if Mother Gothel is really supposed to be a witch or just a horrible, greedy person.. but here she's a witch. So there. XD**


End file.
